A West Coast IPA that features Amarillo and Simcoe hops "in harmony," giving a light, floral aroma. Duet is nicely bitter with the perfect amount of malt concealed behind the hoppy goodness. Immensely drinkable, amazingly light on its feet.

Beer: Ratings & Reviews

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4.5/5 rDev +2.3%

Thanks to BungleTrpg for including as an extra in a recent trade. I have only had Nelson, previously, from Alpine. Psyched to try Duet as Simcoe and Amarillo are two of my favorite hops to use in homebrewing (disclosure: I'm a terrible home brewer).

Nose is pure Amarillo hops...if I had to guess I would say they used a bazillion pounds of Amarillo for dry-hopping per barrel. Citrus on citrus on citrus. Reminded me a little bit of Victory Hop Ranch.

The beer tastes as good as it smells. Really crisp and clean. Not overly bitter. Nice dry finish, but not one that leaves you asking for a glass of water.

Appearance - This poured a nice brownish-orange in color with a white head that rose up nicely and left some good lacing.

Smell - The hops here are very raw and fresh. The site says Simcoe and Amarillo but I swear this is a monster and nothing like other beers I've had using just one or both of these hops. The pine is all over the place almost completely drowning out the orangish aromas that you'd expect from the hop combination. Also, in the truest sense of the style, there is little malt to the nose.

Taste - Again, this is pure to the style. The malt is very much in the background of this flavor profile. The hops are incredibly fresh, almost like it's dry-hopped, and offer just enough orange sweetness to smooth out the raw edge to this beer.

Mouthfeel - This medium-bodied IPA is incredibly smooth considering the massive hop flavors and is just slightly dry.

Drinkability - The lack of a giant dry finish keeps this IPA going down like water. This is easily one of the smoothest most drinkable "big hop" IPAs that I've ever had.

After enjoying Alpine's Nelson so much, I was overjoyed to be able to finally try this one. It pours a hazy orange color with some goldenrod highlights around the shimmering edges. The cloudy, white head settles nicely and sits on top of the brew looking chunky and fat, leaving behind some good clumps of lacing on the glass. Very nice unfiltered look; great for an IPA.

Duet's namesake is beautifully displayed in the aroma, as you can pick out the big contributions from the hop duet right away. Big-time nectarines, mangoes, pineapple, with mild undertones of citrus, likely from the Amarillo, with the wet, dank, pungent and piney side from the Simcoe. They form a beautifully harmonious union with the tropical explosion versus the raw, dank hoppage. A tropic palooza in the middle of an oily, hemp jungle.

Leading off is a strong dose of pine; why hello there, Simcoe! There's also a seemingly larger bout of tropical fruits right out of the gate; mangoes, orange, a touch of peach maybe. The taste, just like the aroma, exhibits great synergy by having perfectly even amounts of each hop - you've got the weedy, danky, hop oils thrashing the left side of your tongue while the tropical-fest of mangoes and papaya tears up the right side.

There's a pretty brash and bitter finish, more bitter in the finish than Nelson, and I'm going to guess that much of the finishing bitterness here is from Simcoe. There's a slight maltiness somewhere between toasted bread and caramel that never gets overly sweet, something that often ruins heavily hopped beers. Alpine knows what they're doing, though, and doesn't beat around the bush - Duet was meant to showcase the hops, and it does just that.

Duet is super crisp and drinkable, and I think it's carbonated a little better than Nelson and feels a little more lively on the palate (this could also be noted from the superior head formation and retention as compared to Nelson). It's not quite as sticky or resinous on the palate, rather it's kind of cutting at a rolling boil on my tongue and it really helps the hops shine.

Wow, another fantastic IPA from Alpine. Beautiful West Coast hops in a bottle; great balance of weedy pines and tropical fruit. This one's not quite as "juicy" as Nelson, and I think I prefer it slightly less, but that's like saying I couldn't go to Harvard and "settled" for Yale. Drinking beers like this make me sad I can't readily get them in the Midwest, because this is another truly fantastic and drinkable IPA.

I love some of Alpine's ales more than life itself, but I was disappointed in this one. It has a nice floral bouquet, but it lacked body and sufficient flavor to really wow me. Very little complexity. Maybe I was hoping for too much since the pub I was in had just run out of pure hoppiness and the barmaid said this would be a reasonable substitute. There really are very few substitutes for pure hoppiness.

What an outstanding IPA and beer in general. The hoppy bitterness is elegant rather than harsh. It pours a bright golden orange. Smells a lot like citrus, a little fruity almost, and like some grade A hop goodness.

Tastes fantastic. Reminds me a lot of some other IPAs (Blanking on which ones), but it has something to it that has to be experienced first hand, that blows other IPAs out of the water. Alpine delivering a great product here.

Fresh bomber pours into my glass a wonderful peach color with amazing clarity and a half inch of creamy white head that leaves some spotty lacing. Enticing. Aroma is all hops! Tropical fruit, grapefruit, green hop resins, floral accents and a bit of spiciness. Really shows off the Simcoe and Amarillo. Mellow caramel sweetness in the background.

First sip brings all hops upfront. Citric, tropical, herbaceous with green leafy resins. A bit floral with a mellow underlying sweetness from crisp light malts. Flows down with a bitter kick and lingering hops on the finish.

Mouthfeel is smooth with fast moving carbonation making this brew immensely drinkable. This is just a damn good IPA that I would be buying many bombers of if it was available locally. If you have access to this consider yourself lucky!